Matt was 13????

The latest issue of UK listings magazine Radio Times includes interviews with current showrunner Steven Moffat, outgoing Doctor Who Matt Smith and actress Jenna Coleman. The latter states that the 2013 Christmas Special, The Time of the Doctor, is a "brilliant episode" and "incredibly emotional" whilst also adding that the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi, "certainly makes an entrance!" Similarly, Matt says that it's the "perfect entrance for him."

Moffat chips in: "We'll find out that Matt Smith is actually the 13th Doctor - although everyone knows that the Doctor can only regenerate 12 times. That 12-times limit is a central part of Doctor Who mythology - and science fiction is all about rules, right? So if the Doctor can never change again, what's Peter Capaldi doing in the Christmas Special?"

Meh, it's well established in Whostory that the regeneration cycle can be reset or transferred from one Time Lord to another, so I'm not bothered.

GuestGuest

Subject: Re: Matt was 13???? Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:57 am

Moffat lies, and doesn't know what he is talking about half the time. The only episodes I like in the time he has been showrunner are the ones written by others. And no, I dont think that all of his shows as writer during the RTD era are all that great, yes they are fun to watch, but the plot holes distract me a lot of the time.

It looks to me as if Moffat will likely be handing Doctor Who to someone else before long, so he's quickly checking things off his "to do list."

[X] Stop making the Doctor whine about how he killed all the Time Lords. We get it already.[X] Bring back Gallifrey.[ ] Make the Doctor an old man again.[ ] Explain away the regeneration limit for the Doctor. At least for now.[ ] Do a big Dalek story.

It looks like the "Matt Smith is really the 13th Doctor" more or less means that the David Tennant to Matt Smith regeneration was his last regeneration, but we've really been counting incarnations. But if you count the Doctor using regeneration energy, then yes, when RTD gave us the Metacrisis/10.5/Handy/Half-Human/single-hearted Doctor, that did count as a regeneration, even though the Doctor didn't change. And now that we've seen "Night of the Doctor" and "Day of the Doctor," we discovered that there was an incarnation between McGann and Eccleston.

^The above paragraph was a sum up for those of you who tuned in late.

If this indeed what Moffat's doing, and we get a new showrunner soon, they'll likely be able to kick off their run using as much or as little from the Classic and New Series as they want.

Capaldi is still the Twelfth Doctor in regards to branding and in regards to how the character sees himself. Metacrisis regeneration was still "Ten" and Hurt's incarnation and those after him didn't consider him "The Doctor".

He was the last Doctor. But not the 13th Doctor. The War Doctor didn't use the name. Though he was eventually redeemed, he was still the War Doctor. And the 10th Doctor stayed the 10th Doctor, he just used up the regeneration energy to do it.

Doctor: Everything ends.Clara: But not you.Doctor: Haven't you been paying attention? I'm an old man now.Clara: But you don't die! You change! Pop right back up with a new face.Doctor: No, not forever. I can change 12 times: 13 versions of me, 13 silly Doctors.Clara: Okay, so you're number 11...Doctor: Ha! Are we forgetting Captain Grumpy? I didn't call myself the Doctor during the Time War but it was still a regeneration.Clara: Okay so you're number 12.Doctor: Well, number 10 once regenerated and kept the same face; I had vanity issues at the time. 12 regenerations, Clara. I can't ever do it again. This is where I end up. This face. This version of me.